"What did women deacons do in the early church? This study is a contribution to resolving this question through evaluating the tasks of female deacons in The Apostolic Constitutions. This fourth-century document is the largest among the so-called ancient church orders. The author divides the tasks of female deacons into three categories: liturgical, charitable and communicative. She analyses the individual concepts and verses within their contexts, paying special attention to the context of the document as a whole within the sphere of Jewish Christian interaction and from the viewpoint of the sources the compiler has used in remoulding the document." --back cover